I agree. Normally, I start to seriously think about playoff scenarios by Week 14, but I can't do it this year until after Week 16. There are way too many teams still alive and we all know many unexpected events occur week to week in the NFL. Let's go crazy with the playoff scenarios after the Seahawks game.
I find it very interesting that in the "who to root for" part of the original post, rooting for KC to beat Miami is not mentioned. Is the outcome of this game completely irrelevant in any scenario? Or do we just assume there's no way Herm will win another game?
It should be there. I really think Miami is looking at a trap game. yes it is must win for them, but the Phins in cold weather.... Kickoff temp is 38....if the front moves thru faster they are looking at 10...
Yeah seriously, this team should be able to beat a 3 win team, and a team that we have already defeated (on the road none of the less). Lets do it, screw all the other scenarios.
My post total isn't high enough to start a thread, but I wanted to pass on an observation about the Dolphins and figured this thread was a close as it gets to being on topic. It seems like regardless of what happens this week, the game vs Miami is going mean everything. I just watched their game vs San Francisco. Chad runs almost all timing comeback patterns. I think because of his arm strength he releases it a while before the receivers make their cuts. We should not play man to man and have our back to turned for him to make those throws. Their receivers are soft. We should jam them at the line. Disrupt their timing and play almost all cover 2. With safety help in the second window, we can have corners sit on those 5-8 yard routes. Chad will be Chad and play safe. Make him go to the checkdown and tackle the back or TE. The other think I noticed was the push their defense gets up the field. Their over agressiveness we need to take advantage of. Draw plays, shovel passes, screens. Plus, Favre should have plenty of room to step up in the pocket and deliver the ball downfield. The often send 5 and 6, leaving the middle of the field wide open. Keller, Coles, and Cothchery should have a field day with crossing routes and dig routes. Two more wrinkles I would like to see from our offense that day. (1) Start with an uptempo no huddle in either the first possession of the game or half. (2) Spread that defense out, go to four wide. Coles, Cothchery, Keller, and maybe Clowney in the slot. Once in a while send Leon or TJ in motion and empty the backfield. Get some single matchups with more receivers for them to cover. Don't let them drop 7 and 8 in coverage when the want to and only have to track 3 receivers. We do any combination of these things and I think we blow them right out of the Meadowlands. Of course, the task at hand is to beat the Seahawks. Go Jets.
I think Tony will have the Dolphins focused on the KC game, and not looking ahead to the Jets game. This should be a good test for Miami.
Why are we thinking of anything less than WINNING OUT? We'll worry about what to do in the event of a loss when we lose
While I do agree with that thought Tommy, I still feel the Jets DO NOT deserve a playoff spot if they can't beat an injury-filled Seahawks team and an overachieving Dolphins team at home.
I could care less about "deserving" playoff spots. We didn't deserve won in 2004, backed in, won a playoff games and should've won the next one. Same with 1986. Get in by hook or by crook.
I hear ya there, but how do you expect to beat Baltimore, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh etc if you can't beat Seattle or Miami?
Here's the scenario: Dallas will definately beat Baltimore this weekend; call it a great hunch. So it doesn't matter if we don't win against the Seahawks, the game comes down to that last game. Win the last game, we're in; either as the 3 or 6 seed depending on if we win against the Seahawks. Either way we play New England the first round...this weekend's game just decides whether we play them at home or at Foxboro
Well actually you said win or lose...den could win their last 2 and get the 3 seed with us having the 4 in which case we would face the colts at home plus also, it looks as if the steelers will have the 1 seed and we are the 6 we would have to then face them, probably the last team we want to face... so really it is a BIG deal.
I'm going under the assumption that the Pats win out. Which in this case, everything in my scenario above stays the same. It doesn't matter what Denver does.
Your post seems logical on paper, but the reality is, sports just doesn't work this way. In 2004 (an example already mentioned in this thread), the Jets ended the season playing very inconsistently and having lost 2 out of their last three games. (And last 2 games) The last loss was against a mediocre St. Louis team (although, a playoff team nonetheless) that they were clearly better than. (By the way, to be fair to the Jets, Chad was playing with a paritally torn rotator cuff that some of us suspected but none of us KNEW about) After starting 6-1, (And really, they were a few plays and a bogus roughing the passer call away from beating the Pats in NE in week 6 and being 7-0) they played so poorly down the stretch (even allowing for the fact that Chad missed three games with his partially torn rotator cuff (and then played the remainder of season hurt) that they almost missed the playoffs at 10-6, and they WOULD HAVE missed the playoffs, if not for the Bills losing to the 2nd and 3rd string version of the 14-1 (going into that game) Steelers at home, with the playoffs on the line. Anyway, after the Jets "backed into the playoffs" (An all-time favorite expression of the NY media - Just to show how silly they get with it, the NY Post used the phrase last week to describe the NY Giants clinching the NFC East in their loss to the Eagles. That's right folks, an 11-2 team had somehow managed to "back into the playoffs". The standards of competence in professional journalism in this country are so, it's scary.), they managed to thoroughly outplay and defeat a 12-4 San Diego Charger team in their building. Then they managed to go to Pittsburgh and stand toe-to-toe with the 15-1 Pittsburgh Steelers and give them one heck of a game that we all know they should have won. (We all remember how that game ended and I won't get into it any more here) The point is, you always want your team to be in contention with a chance. You never know how teams will respond to the pressures of the playoffs. There's always a chance your team gets hot and goes on a magical run. If you doubt that this is possible with the Jets, just look at the Giants of last year and tell me you honestly saw them going on the run that they managed to go on. I admit that I will be really dissapointed in the Jets if they don't manage to win their last 2 games and take the division title. But no matter what, I want them to make the playoffs any way they can.
I hear ya, but the 2004 Jets did not look this bad at the end of the season, especially on defense. This Jets team is too talented to lose to Seattle or Miami. After being (8-3), anything less than an AFC East crown will be very disappointing to me.
